Huntsville/Madison County residential sales in March improve 16% from prior month

Huntsville/Madison County area residential sales in March improved 15.9 percent from the prior month. March sales of 386 units also represent an improvement in sales growth of 2.4 percent from the same period a year earlier and 17 units shy of our monthly forecast.

View full sizeHuntsville/Madison County residential sales up 2% from March 2013. Inventory is 3% below March 2011 peak. Infograph provided by ACRE. All rights reserved.

Supply: Huntsville housing inventory totaled 3,009 units, an increase of 73 units from last March and the first time since March 2011 that inventory hit the 3,000 mark. New home inventory is down 11.4 percent year-over-year while existing single family is up 5.3 percent. The inventory-to-sales ratio in March was 7.8 months of housing supply (3.9 months for new construction - down from 5.5 months in February). The market equilibrium (balance between supply and demand) is considered to be approximately 7 months during March. Huntsville and Baldwin County were Alabama's most balanced markets in 2013. March inventory in Huntsville/Madison County experienced a 4.5 percent (29 units) increase when compared to the prior month. This movement is consistent with historical data trends that indicate March inventory on average (09-13) increases from the month of February by 2.9 percent.

Demand: Existing single family home sales accounted for 70 percent (down from 74% in Mar'13) of total sales, new homes sales accounted for 28 percent (up from 25% in Mar'13) while condos were 2 percent of sales (up from 1% in Mar'13).

Residential sales in March improved 15.9 percent from the prior month. Real estate sales volume is seasonal and historical Huntsville data reflects that March sales, on average (09-13), increase from the month of February by 24.2 percent.

Pricing: The Huntsville median sales price in March was $164,900, an increase of 5.4 percent from March 2013 and last month. Historical data (09-13) indicates that the March median selling price traditionally decreases from the month of February by 2.3 percent. Pricing can fluctuate from month-to-month as the sample size of data (closed transactions) is subject to seasonal buying patterns so a broader lens as to pricing trends is appropriate. ACRE recommends contacting a local real estate professional to discuss pricing at the neighborhood level.

Industry Perspective: Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors® and 2014 ACREconpresenter, recently commented on the sluggish sales in early 2014, "We had ongoing unusual weather disruptions across much of the country last month, with the continuing frictions of constrained inventory (at national level), restrictive mortgage lending standards and housing affordability less favorable than a year ago. Some transactions are simply being delayed, so there should be some improvement in the months ahead. With an expected pickup in job creation, home sales should trend up modestly over the course of the year.”

The Huntsville Residential Monthly Report is work product developed in conjunction with the Huntsville Area Association of REALTORS to better serve North Alabama consumers. The ACRE monthly report is provided to illustrate the "general" market direction & trends when comparing prior periods with the most current available data. Real estate is local and statistics will fluctuate between areas within a city including subdivisions. ACRE recommends that you consult a local real estate professional for "specific" advice associated with your market.